When Do We Arrive at Success in Business?

We go thru many iterations of our businesses, we’re constantly evolving, and perhaps the journey to success is always being redefined.

Many times, the promise of success seems just out of reach. Perhaps because as we arrive, our goals shift. Our desires change. We change.

How quickly things can change sometimes. As I wrote to you last week I was in the throes of thick, burning, summer heat. This morning, I sit watching the rain fall. A reprieve from the heat has arrived and I’m treasuring the cooler mornings with such incredible gratitude.

Storms this weekend blew the leaves from our birch trees with such vigor that it looks to be Fall in our backyard. A deceitful vision to be sure. But, as I sat on the back patio this weekend, my toes chilled by the air and the sight of yellow leaves all around I could almost convince myself that Fall had arrived.

And yet, I know that second summer will likely be on the heals of this lovely rain. A reminder that the months ahead are months of transition. One foot in this season, one foot in the next. The want to embrace what is ahead while releasing what is behind.

There’s not a defined moment of arrival to the next season. But rather, the transition is a contradiction: abrupt changes from day to day countered by a melting from one season to the next.

It is odd, this expectation that a season is singular. That it’s summer, then it’s Fall. That one ends and another begins as if a line is drawn in the sands of time. But, that’s not how it is at all. We do not leave one season behind and firmly arrive in another in a single day.

This same expectation bleeds into business.

The myth that we can go from fledgling business, to steady business, to thriving business as if they were defined and distinguished seasons.

The story that we will arrive at success is a deceiving one. That idea there is a defined point in time where we’ll say I’ve made it. I arrived to the point of my business where I am a success.

Many times, the promise of success seems just out of reach. Perhaps because as we arrive, our goals shift. Our desires change. We change.

And so this “light at the end of the tunnel” promise is just out of our grasp. We go thru many iterations of our businesses, we’re constantly evolving, and perhaps the journey to success is always being redefined. What if there is no arrival? What if there is only the journey?

I’ve found myself having to un-attach from the expectation that I’ll arrive at the light of the end of the tunnel. The idea that, at some point, I won’t need to reiterate. Somehow I attached to this story that I would arrive and I allowed myself to be exhausted by the idea of evolving. Now, I’m detaching from the story of “arriving”.

I’m accepting that as I evolve, my business, the way I work, and the things I do in the world will evolve as well.

Are you attaching to a particular story about the seasons of business? Are you expecting to cross a line in the sand at some point?

Perhaps we can detach from the arrival story and simply enjoy the journey of becoming and evolving. Simply enjoy the journey.